February 2, 2015 - President’s FY 2016 Budget ReleasedThe ASM Office of Public Affairs has summarized the President's FY 2016 budget request for the agencies that fund research and public health programs.

December 12, 2014 - FY 2015 Funding Bill CompletedIn mid-December Congress passed the FY 2015 “CRomnibus” bill (H.R. 83) which funds federal agencies for the full fiscal year through September 30, 2015, except for the Homeland Security Department which is funded through February 27, 2015 on a continuing resolution. Highlights of provisions related to research and public health include the following:

National Institutes of Health (NIH) – The bill includes $30.08 billion for the NIH, $150 million above the fiscal year 2014 level a (0.5% increase). NIH receives an additional $238 million for Ebola activities. The bill reforms the Public Health Service evaluation transfer or “tap” so that NIH will receive $715 million in return for its contribution of $700 million. The appropriations report encourages NIAID, CDC and other federal partners to conduct a workshop to develop a coordinated action plan to address antibiotic resistance issues. The report directs NIH to develop a new approach to reduce the average age at which an investigator first obtains R01 funding and legislative language mandates NIH to submit a 5 year scientific strategic plan.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) – The bill appropriates $6.9 billion for the CDC, $43 million above the fiscal year 2014 program level. CDC will also receive $1.2 billion for Ebola activities from the supplemental funding. The bill includes:

$405 million for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases

$30 million to support the Advanced Molecular Detection Initiative

an increase of $8 million for food safety

an increase of $7.3 million for CDC’s internal lab capacity, including rapid diagnostics and high containment safety.

The proposed CDC Detect and Protect Against Antibiotic Resistance Initiative was excluded from the bill.

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) – will receive $2.6 billion, a $37 million increase from last year. Included is $27 million in new funding for the Food Safety Modernization Act;

National Science Foundation (FDA) – will receive $7.344 billion, about $172 million over FY 2014 ( a 2.4 percent increase);

Department of Energy Science Research – is funded at $5.1 billion, the same as FY 2014;

USDA Research – the National Institute of Food and Agriculture is funded at $1.3 billion and the Agriculture Research Service is funded at $1.1 billion; the bill includes $325 million for the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative for competitive grants;

November 12, 2014 - ASM Supports FY 2015 Omnibus Appropriations Bill The ASM sent a letter to members of Congress supporting passage of an FY 2015 Omnibus Appropriations bill to provide sustained and predictable federal funding for life science research and public health programs

September 10, 2014 - Continuing Resolution to Extend Federal Research FundingOn September 9, the House Appropriations Committee Chairman, Representative Hal Rogers (KY-5), introduced a short term $1.012 trillion Continuing Resolution (CR) that would fund the federal government until December 11, 2014 and prevent a government shutdown. The legislation remains within current spending caps and provides new funding for Ebola research and response. Congress is expected to vote on the measure before the end of the current fiscal year (FY) in September. A copy of the bill can be found: http://rules.house.gov/bill/113/hj-res-124

August 5, 2014 - Appropriations UpdateIn June, the fiscal year (FY) 2015 appropriations process continued to progress. A highlight of the spending bills that have advanced and are of importance to the ASM membership include:

On June 5, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved the Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 Commerce, Justice Science (CJS) Appropriations bill to fund the National Science Foundation (NSF) and other agencies in FY 2015. The NSF would be funded at $7.2 billion, an $83 million increase from FY 2014; research and related activities would receive $5.8 billion, and $201 million for major research equipment and facilities.

In late May, the House approved its FY 2015 CJS bill that would fund research and related activities at the NSF with $5.97 billion and also $201 million for major research equipment and facilities.

On June 10, the Senate Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies (LaborHHS), approved their FY 2015 appropriations bill, funding the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) among others. The bill would fund the NIH at $30.5 billion, adding $605 million, for a 2% increase in FY 2015.

In late May, the Senate Appropriations Committee, Agriculture Subcommittee passed their FY 2015 bill to fund the Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA.) The legislation would provide $325 million for the USDA’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI), the same as the House level, and $1.1 billion for the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and the FDA would be funded at $2.6 billion, or $36 million above FY 2014 levels.

The Senate Appropriations Committee has combined three existing FY 2015 appropriations bills; the Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS); Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies; and the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development into one bill known as a ‘minibus’ to be considered by the full Senate as one piece of legislation, instead of three.

On June 17, the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on Energy and Water Development approved their FY 2015 Energy and Water Development appropriations bill, funding the Department of Energy (DOE) with $28 billion, or $64 million below the President’s request and $5.08 billion for the Office of Science. On June 18, the House appropriations committee approved its FY 2015 Energy and Water bill funding the DOE Office of Science at $5.07 billion.

May 1, 2015 - Biomedical and Life Sciences Research - Federal Funding for FY 2015 (.pdf file)A compilation of the ASM recommendations to Congress for FY 2015 funding for the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, and science funding in the the National Science Foundation, the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Energy.

April 3, 2014 - ASM Appropriation Statements for FY 2015The ASM has submitted appropriation recommendations for federal agencies that support biomedical and public health research.

April 2, 2014 - ASM FY 2015 Funding ChartIn March, the Administration released its fiscal year (FY) 2015 budget request to Congress. The ASM’s Office of Public Affairs has developed a chart highlighting proposed funding levels for the federal agencies and programs of importance to microbiology and the ASM membership.

January 14, 2014 - Omnibus Appropriations Bill Increases Research Funding House and Senate appropriations committees released an FY 2014 omnibus appropriations bill on January 13 that would fund the federal government through September and restores some of the funding lost to the across-the-board cuts from sequestration. The bill includes all 12 FY 2014 spending bills. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) would receive a $1 billion (3.5 percent) increase over the FY 2013 post-sequestration budget and is funded at $29.926 billion. The funding level for NIH is $714 million less than the FY 2013 enacted level of $30.6 billion before sequestration. The National Science Foundation (NSF) is funded at $7.2 billion, which restores funding lost to sequestration, but this level is about $400 million below the President’s 2014 budget request of $7.6 billion. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) would receive $6.9 billion, $567 million over the FY 2013 program level, and a line item of $30 million is included for the Advanced Molecular Detection Initiative. The USDA Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) is funded at the requested level of $316 million. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) would receive $2.6 billion, $91 million over the FY 2013 enacted level, or $4.4 billion including user fees, $85 million of which are restored due to the sequester. The Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science level of funding is $5.1 billion, $195 million ( 4 percent) over the FY 2013 enacted level. The expectation is that the omnibus bill will get enough bipartisan support to pass although a short term continuation of government funding through January 18 is being considered to provide additional time for final passage of the omnibus bill. The omnibus bill reasserts the regular order of the appropriations process and provides restoration of some of the funding lost to sequestration, but it does not completely reverse the effects of sequestration.

December 19, 2013 - Budget Deal Finalized by CongressThe House and Senate have passed a budget compromise measure (HJ Res 59), which allocates to appropriations committees an increase in fiscal year 2014 spending levels and rolls back budgetary sequestration requirements that were due to impact research programs. Congressman Ryan and Senator Murray, chairs of a bipartisan and bicameral “Budget Conference Committee,” established by passage of the “Continuing Appropriations Resolution of 2014,” negotiated the “Bipartisan Budget Agreement Act of 2013 (BBA).” The agreement reconciles spending cap differences between the House and the Senate for FY 2014. The Ryan-Murray deal finalized discretionary spending for the current fiscal year (FY) 2014 at $1.012 trillion, roughly halfway between the House budget level of $967 billion and the Senate budget level of $1.058 trillion. The BBA also provides partial relief from sequestration in FY 2015. The agreement allows appropriators to draft spending bills for the remainder of FY 2014 and provides $63 billion in relief from sequester cuts over the next two years for both defense and non-defense discretionary programs. The Bipartisan Budget Agreement is a step forward in mitigating some of the harm from the random cuts of sequestration. The ASM has been urging Congress to end sequestration and will continue to advocate for robust investment in basic research as the appropriations process proceeds for FY 2014 and FY 2015. The Bipartisan Budget Act is designed to restore order to the federal budget and appropriations process and to allow some reinvestment in domestic priorities, such as research. The BBA restores almost two-thirds of the scheduled non-defense discretionary cuts in 2014. House and Senate appropriations committees are beginning the process to write FY 2014 spending bills before the expiration of the current Continuing Resolution on January 15, 2014. Information and updates on appropriations bills will be available at: http://www.asm.org/ResearchFunding.

October 29, 2013 - ASM Sends Funding Recommendations to the Budget Conference CommitteeThe ASM sent funding recommendations to the Budget Conference Committee. The Budget Conference Committee has a December 13, 2013, deadline to negotiate the differences in spending levels for FY 2014 between the House and the Senate and to issue a report.

October 17, 2013 - Continuing Resolution/Budget Conference Committee UpdateOn October 17, HR. 2775 the “Continuing Appropriations Resolution of 2014” was signed into law by the President, extending the debt ceiling through February 7, 2014 and temporarily restoring funding for government agencies. This page includes an analysis of the bill.

September 19, 2013 -Research Funding UpdateAs the start of Fiscal Year 2014 approaches, Congress remains undecided over federal funding and strategy to extend current year spending authority through a FY 2014 Continuing Resolution (CR), a stopgap bill to fund the government from October 1 through December 15. The CR is intended to provide a timeframe for Congress to come to agreement on full year 2014 appropriations for federal agencies. The recently introduced House CR would fund federal programs at their current post-sequester FY 2013 level of funding. The ASM continues to work with Congress, along with coalitions of science and public health advocates, to ensure that research and public health programs are funded at the highest level possible and that deficit control measures do not result in additional cuts to these essential programs.

July 29, 2013 - The Economic Impact of the U.S. Biopharmaceutical IndustryThe Battelle Technology Partnership Practice has released a report, "The Economic Impact of the U.S. Biopharmaceutical Industry" which reports that highlights the economic importance of the biopharmaceutical industry in the innovation ecosystem. The industry supported approximately 3.4 million U.S. jobs in 2011, including more than 810,000 directly, playing a vital role in our nation’s economy and accounting for $789 billion in economic output in 2011.

June 25, 2013 - Ad Hoc Group Applauds Senate Spending AllocationsThe Ad Hoc Group for Medical Research thanks the Senate Appropriations Committee for the allocation it has provided to the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education and Related Agencies (Labor-HHS) for its FY 2014 spending bill. The Labor-HHS subcommittee funds the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the largest public source of funding for medical research in the world. The ASM is a member of the Ad Hoc Group for Medical Research.

June 17, 2013 - The Impact of Genomics on the U.S. EconomyThe Battell Technology Partnership Practice for United for Medical Research (UMR) has prepared a report, "The Impact of Genomics on the U.S. Economy." It reports that, "Federal research investment contributed to medical science, improved public health, created American jobs and helped generate nearly $1 trillion in economic impacts to date."

June 6, 2013 - NIH Fact Sheet on the Impact of SequestrationThe National Institutes of Health has posted a fact sheet on the impact of sequestration on the NIH. The summary includes a set of FAQs on the impact of the cuts on grantees. NIH reported that due to sequestration approximately 700 fewer competitive research project grants will be issued this fiscal year.

April 17, 2013 - ASM Sends Letter to Congress Regarding FY 2014 FundingThe ASM signed onto a letter as a member of the Informal Coalition on Biodefense and Public Health Preparedness to support funding for programs critical to the nation’s preparedness against threats, whether naturally occurring or deliberate, such as a chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) event.

April 17, 2013 - ASM Signs onto Coalition CLFS Letter The ASM signed onto a letter from the Clinical Laboratory Coalition outlining serious concern and opposition to further reducing the Medicare Part B Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule (CLFS) as proposed in the President’s 2014 Budget. It was sent to the Chair and Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee.

April 12, 2013 - President’s Fiscal Year 2014 Research Budget RequestsOn April 10, the President released the Administration’s fiscal year (FY) 2014 budget request to Congress. The ASM has prepared an overview of federal agency research and development and public health funding levels.

April 12, 2013 - Federal Funding for FY 2014 - Biomedical and Life Sciences Research (.pdf file)A compilation of the ASM recommendations to Congress for FY 2014 funding for the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, and science funding in the the National Science Foundation, the Department of Agriculture, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy.

February 6, 2013 - Legislative Alert: Sequestration Cuts to ResearchThe American Society for Microbiology (ASM) encourages its members to contact their representative and senators about the negative impact the upcoming sequestration would have on science and public health. Go to the ASM’s Legislative Action Center to e-mail your members of Congress and ask them to oppose these automatic cuts.

December 13, 2012 -ASM Signs onto AFRI Coalition Sequestration LetterThe AFRI Coalition sent a letter to the White House and Congressional Leadership, urging them to find a bipartisan solution to the so called “fiscal cliff” before the end of the year to avoid devastating cuts to R&D.

December 11, 2012 - ASM Signs onto Coalition Sequestration LetterThe ASM signed onto a letter from the Ad Hoc Group for Medical Research Coalition that was sent to all members of the House of Representatives. The letter outlined the coalition's concerns about the impact of continued cuts, including sequestration, on medical research supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the subsequent negative consequences for the health of all Americans.

December 7, 2012 - ASM Signs onto Coalition Letter Regarding SequestrationThe ASM signed onto a letter regarding the importance of federal research and development (R&D) and the impact that the sequester would have on the future of the U.S. research. The letter was sent to the President and the House and Senate Leadership.

November 21, 2012 - Impact of Sequestration on Research and Public HealthResearch!America has produced a report titled, "Sequestration: Health Research at the Breaking Point." The automatic spending cuts scheduled to take effect in January 2013 known as sequestration would slash federal investments in critical research aimed at discovering treatments, moving safe and effective new medicines to market and protecting the public’s health. Click here for a one page summary on how the sequestration cuts would impact Federal Agencies such as the NIH, NSF, FDA and the CDC.

September 19, 2012 - Legislative Alert: Contact Congress Regarding Sequestration Risks to Science and Public Health ProgramsThe American Society for Microbiology (ASM) encourages its members to contact their representative and senators about the negative impact the upcoming sequestration would have on science and public health. Go to the ASM’s Legislative Action Center to e-mail your members of Congress and ask them to take action to avoid the dire consequences of sequestration, or arbitrary across the board cuts, before January 1.

September 17, 20012 - Science Funding UpdateOn September 10, the House Appropriations Committee introduced a six-month continuing resolution (CR), H.J.R. 117 that would avoid a government shutdown and fund all federal agencies, with few exceptions, at the FY 2012 levels until March 27, 2013. H.J.R. 117 includes an across-the-board increase of .6 percent to account for a higher discretionary spending cap as well as a new requirement that each federal agency provide spending plans to Congress.

On September 14, the White House, as required by The Sequestration Transparency Act of 2012, released a report on sequestration outlining the Administration’s plan to implement the broad across-the-board cuts to federal agencies. The report indicated that science and research programs, as “non-exempt nondefense discretionary funding” would receive an 8.2 percent reduction in 2013. A copy of the report can be found here. As a result of the Budget Control Act of 2011 and failure by the Congressional Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction to reduce the Nation’s debt by $1.2 trillion, automatic across-the-board cuts to both defense and non-defense discretionary spending, known as sequestration, are set to be enacted on January 2, 2013.

July 12, 2012 - ASM Signs onto Coalition Letter Regarding the Budget Control Act and SequestrationThe ASM signed onto an Ad Hoc Group for Medical Research letter sent to all Members of Congress, the White House, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) expressing grave concern about the impact of the pending sequestration mandated by the Budget Control Act on medical research supported by the NIH and the subsequent negative consequences this funding cut will have on the health of all Americans by slowing scientific progress against disease and disability.

June 13, 2012 - ASM Supports National Science Foundation FundingThe ASM, joined by more than one hundred universities and scientific societies, signed a letter sent to the Senate urging them to resist attempts to reduce funding for the NSF in the FY 2013 Commerce, Justice and Science (CJS) appropriations bill.

June 8, 2012 - ASM Supports Funding for BARDAThe ASM signed onto a letter sent to Congress supporting Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) funding. The letter requested at least $547 million for Fiscal Year (FY) 2013, the level requested by the Administration.

April 13, 2012 - Federal Funding for FY 2013 - Biomedical and Life Sciences Research (.pdf file)A compilation of the ASM recommendations to Congress for FY 2013 funding for the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, the National Science Foundation, the Department of Agriculture, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy.

March 30, 2012 - ASM Appropriation Statements for FY 2013The ASM has submitted appropriation recommendations for federal agencies that support biomedical and public health research.

March 16, 2012 - ASM Signs onto Coalition Letter Supporting NIH Funding in FY 2013The ASM signed onto a letter as a member of the Ad Hoc Group for Medical Research urging Congress to provide the largest possible 302(b) allocation to the FY 2013 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee within the discretionary cap established by the Budget Control Act (BCA).

February 14, 2012 - Summary of the President’s FY 2013 Budget RequestOn February 13, the President released the Administration’s FY 2013 budget request to Congress. Highlights of research and development and public health funding proposed for federal agencies are included in this summary.